# Has anyone been to any Museum Ships? Thoughts on best ones? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 20, 2022, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-to-any-museum-ships-thoughts-on-best-ones/966476 "2022-06-20T03:59:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-to-any-museum-ships-thoughts-on-best-ones/966476/61 "2022-06-21T18:54:55Z")
Another vote for USS Hornet. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-to-any-museum-ships-thoughts-on-best-ones/966476/62 "2022-06-21T19:49:54Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > really, really enjoyed exploring the HMS Belfast, which is moored permanently in the Thames in the middle of London as a floating museum. Nearly everything in the ship is open, and they’ve populated most of the spaces with informational exhibits and period gear, much of it hands-on. It’s really well done Will give this a second strong recommendation. Since many museums in London are free, and some of the ones you have to pay admission aren’t great value, but HMS Belfast is worth every pound. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-to-any-museum-ships-thoughts-on-best-ones/966476/63 "2022-06-21T20:12:17Z")
Been to a lot of the above, only one I’ve seen and has not been mentioned was the **USS Lexington** , an Essex-class carrier now based in Corpus Christi, TX. It’s a sister ship to the **Yorktown** in Charleston. But if you ever visit Stockholm, see the **Vasa** ; you won’t be disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-to-any-museum-ships-thoughts-on-best-ones/966476/64 "2022-06-21T20:22:35Z")
Flight Crew would be more accurate than Pilots. Despite being on a carrier, I rarely interacted in any meaningful way with the Flight Deck or Bridge. My work was generally from the O3 level down to the bilges when needed. I was a Snipe after all. I’m pretty sure I recall the escalator being off in port. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-to-any-museum-ships-thoughts-on-best-ones/966476/65 "2022-06-21T20:29:05Z")
But can you actually go inside the **Vasa**? I’m sure it’s interesting just from the outside, but going in would be amazing. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-to-any-museum-ships-thoughts-on-best-ones/966476/66 "2022-06-21T20:34:07Z")
IIRC (and it’s been a couple of years), you can access one of the decks, but not the whole ship (it is, after all, 400 years old and sat at the bottom of the water for centuries). But the whole museum experience is well worth it, IMHO as always. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![McCaff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/848f3c/32.png) [@McCaff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McCaff)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-to-any-museum-ships-thoughts-on-best-ones/966476/67 "2022-06-21T20:49:55Z")
Synchronicity. I just got a book of the Elissa. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-to-any-museum-ships-thoughts-on-best-ones/966476/68 "2022-06-21T20:57:53Z")
I was there in 2017 and you can’t touch any of it. There are ramps and balconies that let you get real close though, and enough timbers are missing to get a good look inside. ---
**Author:** ![Retzbu\_Tox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/retzbu_tox/32/11829_2.png) [@Retzbu\_Tox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Retzbu_Tox)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-to-any-museum-ships-thoughts-on-best-ones/966476/69 "2022-06-21T21:04:10Z")
The Niña is a working reproduction of one of 1492 Columbus expedition caravels. It is a traveling museum ship. I have been aboard it twice on the Mississippi River. I was amazed at how small it was. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-to-any-museum-ships-thoughts-on-best-ones/966476/70 "2022-06-21T21:11:00Z")
Interesting, there is a replica of [The Half Moon](https://www.newnetherlandinstitute.org/history-and-heritage/digital-exhibitions/a-tour-of-new-netherland/hudson-river/half-moon/) that sails the Hudson River. I’ve sailed next to her about 3 or 4 times now. Mostly on [The Clearwater](https://www.clearwater.org/) and once on the [Adam Hyler](https://tuckertonseaport.org/) I mentioned above. So the Half Moon was Henry Hudson’s ship. It is very cool to the see the replica under full sail. ---
**Author:** ![Retzbu\_Tox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/retzbu_tox/32/11829_2.png) [@Retzbu\_Tox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Retzbu_Tox)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-to-any-museum-ships-thoughts-on-best-ones/966476/71 "2022-06-21T21:30:30Z")
It looks like the **La Niña** isn’t touring in 2022. It is drydocked for repairs due to hurricane damage. [Nina & Pinta Caravels](https://www.facebook.com/Nina-Pinta-Caravels-161288927287541/) ---
**Author:** ![its\_the\_daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bb73d2/32.png) [@its\_the\_daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/its_the_daddy)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-to-any-museum-ships-thoughts-on-best-ones/966476/72 "2022-06-21T21:31:34Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > HMS Victory (in Portsmouth in the UK) is an all time great for me. Though I’ve not been as an adult, and while there of plenty of things that were mind blowing as a little kid that are fairly underwhelming now, I would imagine it holds up. It still holds up. You get HMS Victory, HMS Warrior, Mary Rose and loads more besides. The only disappointment is that you get chased around Victory in short order; but that’s the pressure of visitor numbers. You’ll never do the museum justice in a day, but the usual ticket lets you make repeated visits till you’ve seen every attraction. Allow 2 days! +1 for HMS Belfast in London. Here’s a strange-but-true: > **[Why Do The Guns Of HMS Belfast Point At A Motorway Service Station?](https://londonist.com/2015/02/why-do-the-guns-of-hms-belfast-point-at-a-motorway-service-station)** > > What has the ship got against Scratchwood? ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-to-any-museum-ships-thoughts-on-best-ones/966476/73 "2022-06-21T21:45:44Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Its an obvious one but the USS Abraham Lincoln in NY is really impressive, the ship itself is impressive but the display of aircraft is better than anything I’ve seen in the US outside the Smithsonian Air and Space museum. Not sure where this name came from. I mean USS Intrepid, USS Abraham Lincoln is not a museum 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecc23a/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada_Jr)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-to-any-museum-ships-thoughts-on-best-ones/966476/74 "2022-06-21T21:49:20Z")
> [@McCaff](#): > > Synchronicity. I just got a book of the Elissa. Which one? If there is a new one out I will have to get it. ---
**Author:** ![McCaff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/848f3c/32.png) [@McCaff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McCaff)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-to-any-museum-ships-thoughts-on-best-ones/966476/75 "2022-06-21T23:47:08Z")
Book is new only to me. “Sailing Ship Elissa” 1998, College Station, Texas A&M Press. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2022, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-to-any-museum-ships-thoughts-on-best-ones/966476/76 "2022-06-22T00:34:14Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > the Battleship North Carolina in Wilmington I am seriously bummed: they do not have the Night Show any more, it was discontinued in 1995! 😠 The audience sat in these bleachers and when the sun went down, a narrative show was presented where different areas of the ship were lighted as various voices enacted the attack where the NC took a torpedo hit. The guns were rigged with some kind of gas that would ignite as the officers called **Fire** and a huge explosion ripped through the night when the torpedo “hit.” It was a blast (pun intended)! But, no more. A damn shame, it is – they must have been doing something right to keep a family audience entertained. We went a few different times over the years and we had four kids from 15 years old down to six and we all enjoyed it immensely. An aside: the NC had/has a resident alligator (maybe more than one) who hung out by the gangway and ate whatever was thrown to him/her. When the Night Show started, the booger would scurry away as fast as it could; it knew the explosion was just minutes away. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2022, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-to-any-museum-ships-thoughts-on-best-ones/966476/77 "2022-06-22T00:45:58Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > An aside: the NC had/has a resident alligator (maybe more than one) who hung out by the gangway and ate whatever was thrown to him/her. What’s the deal with reptiles and battleships? 🙂 I took this pic at the USS Alabama: [![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52164351499_1a2aedb44d_z.jpg) ](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52164351499_1a2aedb44d_z.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2022, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-to-any-museum-ships-thoughts-on-best-ones/966476/78 "2022-06-22T00:50:34Z")
I think the gators are waiting until they have a big enough grouping and then they’ll seize control of the tub and be **Lizard Pirates**! The scourge of the backwater berthings. Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of Corona, matey! 😄 ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2022, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-to-any-museum-ships-thoughts-on-best-ones/966476/79 "2022-06-22T00:52:58Z")
> [@Limmin](#): > > Did you see / ride the escalator on the Hornet? I think it went from the flight deck level to higher up the bridge structure. I wondered it if was original or added later. It was not in the as-built _Hornet_ but was added later during the jet era when pressure-suited jet jocks found it more awkward to get from the ready room to the flight deck. > **[US Navy Aircraft Carriers Had Escalators Just Like At The Mall](https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/12804/us-navy-aircraft-carriers-had-escalators-just-like-at-the-mall)** > > Instead of carrying shopping bag toting consumers, these escalators carried fully geared-up aircrews on the way to their aircraft. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2022, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-to-any-museum-ships-thoughts-on-best-ones/966476/80 "2022-06-22T02:38:08Z")
The area across the water has become a lot more built up by the battleship, I imagine people probably complained about noise every single night. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-to-any-museum-ships-thoughts-on-best-ones/966476.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-to-any-museum-ships-thoughts-on-best-ones/966476.md?page=5)